Chapter Text
It wasn’t the crack about him majoring in dropping out of college that made Oliver hate Isobel Rochev. He decided he didn’t like her as soon as he walked through the door with Felicity. He’d made some excuses to the few members of the board about her being his trusted counsel, but the truth was he did not want to let her out of his sight. He’d taken a step back from his vigilante practice over the summer, opting instead to look after Felicity as himself. Her image had been plastered all over the news after she’d taken down Dr. Natural, as the media had taken to calling him.
Oliver was careful. The news that he was the Alpha who’d been with her during her heat hadn’t broken yet, and he wanted to put that off as long as possible. Once the city knew, she’d be in danger not just from the supporters of Dr. Natural, but the copycat vigilantes. So Oliver kept her close. Not that he had to drag her into this meeting. She’d been pushing for him to go meet with Stellmore’s people all summer. She said if he wasn’t going to save the city, the least he could do would be to save the company.
When they walked through the door, Felicity was eyeing the bagels with a glare. Though she normally loved them, her morning sickness had set in, and she’d been unable to touch anything salty before one in the afternoon for days. Oliver could feel her staring at them. He could almost smell her mouth-watering.
As he shook Isobel’s hand, he saw the woman’s eyes slide to his omega. He saw the recognition in her eyes and noticed her nostrils flare. He tensed. Oliver knew Felicity was giving off some serious pregnant omega scents at this point. Betas and other omegas in the room might miss it, but any alpha could pick up on it easily. There was no way to mask it either. Her biology took being pregnant that seriously. It was a defense mechanism, designed to make alphas protect her. If this Isobel woman was an alpha she’d be able to smell Felicity’s condition. He tightened his fingers around her fingers, locked in a handshake, and noticed her give him an imperceptible snarl.
Alpha.
He hated her before she made the crack about him dropping out of college before she explained percentages to him like he was a child. He titled his head at her, pursing his lips, debating the best comeback. But she kept going.
Isobel took another whiff and smiled slightly. “Besides Mr. Queen, I think your resources would be better off if you invested them in something else. Your growing family perhaps.”
Felicity’s lips parted slightly in shock, and Oliver could hear the blood rushing to her face.
“How-” she began, but Isobel cut her off.
“It’s best you don’t fight me on this. Companies rise and fall. Your company has fallen.”
Before he could answer, there was a crash from the elevator bank, and a voice screaming his name. He got to his feet. Then those damn Hoods were bursting in, telling him he’d failed this city.
He’d gotten one whiff of their scents and knew instantly they were alphas in a state, a rage, unable to think clearly or rationally, probably from the Glades and grieving. Normally a fight like that would be exciting, something to challenge him, a pack of enraged Alphas, but he had his pregnant omega in the room. Normally Alphas were very protective of omegas in general, whether they choose to present or not, but pregnant omegas were a whole other class to Alphas. Leaving one in danger was abhorrent, putting one in danger was an indication of madness.
He could smell the attacker’s alphaness, and he picked up on Felicity permeating the room. There was no way they could have missed her. He’d heard the machine guns begin to fire at that moment, and he’d watched as the pregnant omega dove under the table. He knew instantly that this mob was insane. It took him seconds to assess the situation. He realized that Oliver Queen had no business fighting a mob of rabid alphas, and what was more, even if he was the vigilante right now, his biology wouldn’t let him. He felt himself snarling, his inner alpha demanding Felicity’s immediate evacuation.
He got to his feet, pulling her out from under the table. He heard Digg getting shots off, but didn’t have time to talk or make eye contact. One of the men grabbed him from behind, wheeling him around, pistol cocked. It was a shock when Felicity hit him over the head with a broken table leg. Oliver wondered for less than a millisecond where she got that before his alpha took over. He grabbed her hand.
The emergency exit and the stairs were on the other side of their attackers. To get to them he’d have to fight his way through, and he was unwilling to do so with Felicity’s and his child’s life on the line. So he pulled her to him tight, grabbed a hold of the chain on the shades, and cracked the window overlooking the city with his shoulder, launching them backwards into the open air. His heart stopped beating for a moment.
It. Was. So. Stupid. He was unforgivably stupid.
They were in the air for seconds. It felt like a lifetime. The adrenaline rushing through his veins, made the sky swim. His vision was less important than the feelings throughout his body. He held onto Felicity for dear life, and thankfully she echoed the action. He felt her pressed to him and he realized in a heart-stopping moment, what he’d done. He’d launched his pregnant omega out a top floor window. His family was essentially in free fall, seconds from death, with only a flimsy shade pulley to save them. He was so fucking stupid.
His feet hit the window below with more force than he knew he was capable of. It cracked thank god. He had less than a second to twist them midair, which he did. Felicity was pulled tight to his stomach as his back crashed onto the desk in the empty office on a floor below the conference room. They bounced and landed with less impact on the carpet. Paper and glass were everywhere. Oliver still hadn’t let go of Felicity.
“Are you okay?” he asked. She was squirming in his arms and broke away from him with a mighty shove. She just made it to the trash can before she lost the contents of her stomach. He winced. She’d had such a healthy nutritious breakfast. He crawled over to her, holding her hair back, looking around desperately. The floor seemed to have been evacuated.
“I’d have eaten the bagel if I knew I was going to be sick anyway,” she moaned. “They shot them. Did you see?”
The second she was done gagging, he scooped her up. And sprinted to the emergency exit by the elevators. He began a long run down dozens of flights of stairs, carrying her bridal style.
“Oliver,” she said, holding onto his back lightly. “I can walk, and the jostling.” She gagged again, but he didn’t stop. She could throw up on him. It didn’t matter. He had to get her away. It went beyond instinct and adrenaline. It was a biological drive. Two flights from the bottom he hopped them over the railing and landed easily on the ground below, his knees taking most of the impact. It didn’t slow him down. He slammed through the door and was in the lobby, which was bursting with people. Cops and EMTs were everywhere. He saw several dead bodies of security guards on the floor, and adjusted Felicity, cradling her in his arms.
“I need a doctor!” he screamed, pushing into the lobby. He spotted Lance, recently demoted taking a statement from two witnesses. He saw his eyes widen in horror.
“Oliver,” Felicity muttered into his shirt. “I’m fine, put me down.”
He ignored her.
“Ambulances are outside, Queen,” Lance said, stepping to the door and holding it open. “She was with you on the top floor? It didn’t stop them? Witnesses said they’re alphas, what the hell!’ Lance was muttering, mostly to himself as he directed Oliver out to one of the waiting ambulances. The EMTs saw him coming and rushed to grab supplies.
There were shock blankets and a tank of oxygen. He deposited Felicity into a seated position in the back of the ambulance. “She’s an omega, twelve weeks pregnant.”
“Hey,” one of the EMTs said, fitting her with the mask he’d been trying to give to Oliver. “I recognize you. You’re the omega that took down Dr. Natural.”
Felicity nodded, one hand coming up to hold the mask in place. The other EMT began scrubbing at a cut on her cheek Oliver hadn’t realized she had. Guilt settled in his gut.
“She’s twelve weeks pregnant,” he repeated, glaring at the EMTs.
Oliver did not know this, but it was not the first time an overprotective alpha was staring these EMTs down over the care of an omega. There was a whole section of their training devoted exclusively to handling bonded alphas and omegas. These two were used to it.
“Okay man,” the first one said. “We hear you. We’ll take her vitals and if she wants to go to the hospital we can take her. It’s alright. She seems fine.”
“She is not fine,” he growled. “A mob of angry men with guns just shot at her. She needs more than just oxygen and some alcohol swabs. She is twelve weeks pregnant.”
“Wow,” the second EMT said, pulling out a machine to take her vitals. He looked at Felicity kindly, ignoring Oliver’s glare. “Are you a trouble magnet or something? Even for Starling that has to be a record for most death-defying experiences in a summer.”
Felicity pulled the oxygen mask away from her face, grinning back at the amused twenty-something as he fitted her with a blood pressure cuff.
“You have no idea.” She smiled at Oliver and he relaxed slightly. The EMTs clapped him on the shoulder and said they needed to go check on a few things and take supplies inside. Oliver nodded once, crossing his arms staring at Felicity.
“You could have taken those guys out” she snapped, pulling her oxygen mask away. “You didn’t have to...If I hadn’t been there.”
“It’s not your fault,” he interrupted, putting the oxygen mask back on. He shook his head and tried to wrap his arms around her, but she gave him a little shove
Felicity pulled the mask back again. “You haven’t put on the hood in months, and don’t give me the speech about needing to keep me safe. Aside from the time the earthquake hit, I’ve always been safer in the foundry than anywhere else. This is getting out of hand now.”
Oliver made a shushing sound, trying to put the oxygen mask back on her.
“Can’t we take a minute?” he asked. “I just-”
“Just what?” she demanded waving him off. He took a step back rubbing at his forehead for a moment.
“Oliver-”
“If I had taken those guys out, the Hoods and Isobel Rocev would know what I’m capable of. And I’m not giving my enemies any more reasons to hurt you.”
“And what about all the nights you don’t go out? What’s your excuse for that? Your hood is starting to gather dust.”
“I don’t want to talk about that.” He cast a meaningful look around. “Not here, not now.”
He would not tell her right now, about how he didn’t want to put on the hood after his best friend had died thinking him a murder. He’d been willing to do it for the kidnapped omegas. That Tommy would have understood, but the rest of it, he’d seen and he’d hated. Oliver was done. There was no worthy crusade left. But he wasn’t going to tell Felicity that now, in the back of an ambulance as they waited to go to the doctor.
A moment of silence passed between them.
“Rochev already has our number,” Felicity said, letting it go for now.
“I know.”
“Did you know she was an alpha?”
“No.”
“So,” she cast her eyes around for a moment. “What do we do?”
He sighed, and fit the oxygen mask back over her nose.
“We wait for the EMTs and ask them to take you to the hospital, just to be safe,” he added loudly, as she moved to protest. He pressed his palms into his forearms. “And I’ll deal with the rest later.”
She gave him a deep look. He felt like she could see into his soul for a moment. He’d met mercenaries with less intimidating stares. Then she nodded, and finally, he was allowed to wrap her in his arms.